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  • Musipedia Of Metal

    Reviews: Stonus, Mystfall, Fuzzing Nation, Sanctum Pyre (Matt Bladen)

    Stonus - Space To Dive (Ripple Music)

    Finally I get one from the internationally recognised leaders of all things riff, Ripple Music.

    I couldn't let m'colleague Mr Piva get his hands on this big fat slice of Cypriot fuzz, so I snapped it up to see what the band had to offer on their second studio album. Their debut Ripple after previous records came via Electric Valley/Daredevil Records and Ouga Booga And The Mighty Oug, the label of Greek stoner rockers 1000mods. 

    It's in with, bands like 1000mods and Planet Of Zeus that Stonus fall style wise, both previous touring partners, while there's also a lot of gratitude payed to Nightstalker and American Space Lord Mutha's Monster Magnet. Space To Dive then has to prove why Stonus were signed to such a prestigious label in the riff scene. 

    They burst out of the speakers immediately with woozy, psych-drenched chugs that pull you into an album inspired by "the torus field — the visual representation of sound, energy, and atomic vibration", the connection between everything in the universe, the metaphor for this band who live in different countries but coexist as one entity within music. 

    The connection between the band is obvious with a tracks like Follow Me and Psychactive Baby where the bottom end of drummer Kotsios Demetriades and bassist Alaa Albaharna give them hypnotic grooves of the Monster Magnet universe, the vocals of Kyriacos Frangoulis have that reverb drawl of Wyndorf. 

    Colours has Pavlos Demetriou and Nikolas Frangoulis playing some biting riffs from the likes of Mastodon while In Loop brings dazed desert rock of Nightstalker, to the record with lots of space to lose yourself in the groove as it segues into the explorative Tangerine and the heavy doom of The Hermit. 

    While I've mentioned their influences a lot Stonus manage to create a sound of their own inspired by the bands I've talked about, Stonus' debut for Ripple is a more diverse journey into psychedelic heaviness, so strap in and enjoy this cosmic ride through Ripple accredited riffs. 9/10

    Mystfall - Embers Of A Dying World (Scarlet Records)

    Embers Of The Dying World is the second album from Greek band Mystfall. Led by soprano Marialena Trikoglou, they very much fall into classic grandiose sound of symphonic metal originators Nightwish, Epica and Within Temptation. 

    No 80's synths, pop influences or anything like that which comes into symphonic metal these days, Mystfall are all about Marialena's soaring operatic vocals, sweeping orchestral movements and power metal backing that brings galloping riffs. 

    Embers Of A Dying World poses the question, what's left if we keep destroying the planet at the rate we are? The band explore these though the concept of an alternate world where dreams are alive and fighting nightmares, so someone has read Neil Gaiman's The Sandman.

    I digress though as these emotionally resonant themes are released with the theatrical, cinematic sound of Mystfall as Aris Baris' guitars create the cutting riffs and escalating leads, as Dimitris Miglis' drums provide the pace locked in with Stelios Vrotsakis' bass who brings that often needed other element of traditional symphonic metal bands, the harsh male vocals. 

    Embers Of A Dying World by Mystfall recalls that initial symphonic metal era and when every other band is trying to modernise, their time-honoured, classically driven sound needs to be appreciated. 8/10

    Fuzzing Nation - Mother Truck (Octopus Rising/Argonauta Records) 

    Another album of Greek fuzz this week with a journey to a Fuzzing Nation. 

    Again let's get them out of the way early as Fuzzing Nation have influence from 1000mods, Planet Of Zeus, Nightstalker, with a look outside of Greece to the greasy riffs of Fu Manchu and bands born from that Sky Valley scene. 

    They were formed in 2022 by Angel Ioannidis (vocals/guitar) and Steve Giannakos (bass) both of doom band Sorrows Path as ex-Innerwish drummer Terry Moros finishes the trio who have a lot experience behind them in the studio and on stage. 

    Born from a spontaneous studio jam, that D.I.Y ethos of "play it how it feels" that's directed their two previous EPs, returns on their debut full length but they approach it with a conceptual edge of this album being a chase through the desert, part Smokey And The Bandit, part Vanishing Point through the wastelands of Mad Max. 

    This big Mother Truck speeds through dunes of grooving riffs where the early desert rock pioneers meet the post punk throb of Blondie on The Elders Code and Sabbath goes punk for I Don't Believe. These detours to the juggernaut of fuzzy stoner riffs are welcome variation in a style that can become a little one note. 

    Fuzzing Nation though keep you interested and your head bobbing on their debut, whether you can follow the story or not, the music tells its own with fuzz and fury. 8/10

    Sanctum Pyre - He Who Remains (Steel Gallery Records)

    Sanctum Pyre aren't as much a band as they are a studio project with international reach. Forged by a trio of musicians based in different parts of the world. 

    However the fact that Battle Symphony's Nikos Tzouannis, writes all the music, orchestrations, lyrics, plays the keyboards, and produces it means that their worthy of inclusion here, it also helps that they are signed to Greek label Steel Gallery. 

    Now it's not a solo effort as Nikos is joined by mysterious guitarist/bassist/drum programmer/mixer Mike G and vocalist Rob Lundgren who has sung for everyone and their mother, but when your voice is that good I'd hire him too. 

    Sanctum Pyre is a band I'd call an epic metal band, one moment (The Hammer And The Cross) they've got the weapons in the air march of Manowar, then the next it's the anthemic tones of Sonata Arctica, the folk filled style of Blind Guardian and dramatic storytelling of Kamelot.

    The latter especially when they take Middle Eastern routes on Daughter Of The Wind where Thomas Karam of Noor and Shlomit Lev of Orphaned Land join. The one criticism I will say is that they do seem to have just the one intro riff on about three or for of the songs, that sounds very similar but bands have made careers playing the same song repeatedly so it's not too much of an issue. 

    He Who Remains combines a lot of different sounds from different bands into one fantasy influenced heavy metal record, swords held high this pyre burns brightly. 8/10


    Reviews: Neurosis, Mclusky, Exodus, Gong (Rich Piva)

    Neurosis - An Undying Love For A Burning World (Neurot Recordings)

    Look, I am not going to sit here and write this pretending I am something more than a casual Neurosis fan. Have I enjoyed their work? Yes. Do they have some records that are post metal sludgy classics? Of course. A Sun That Never Sets for example. For me though, Neurosis has always been a mood band, which is probably why I never dove deep into the darkest depths of their catalog. 

    Well it's a good thing that the world is in a mood because it is the perfect time for a new, surprise, Neurosis record, titled An Undying Love For A Burning World. What could be a better title for a record dropped in 2026? What record could sound more perfect for a Neurosis in 2026? Add ISIS vocalist and post metal legend Aaron Turner to the mix, and you have everyone screaming for An Undying Love For A Burning World as an album of the year candidate. They would be right.

    First off, Turner fits in perfectly. I am not sure anyone else could have filled the role. Second, the vibe of this record is the vibe of humankind right now, put to music. There is still a tiny glimmer of hope under all the despair on An Undying Love For A Burning World, but there is a lot of bleakness on these eight songs. The intro, We Are Torn Wide Open, is 58 seconds of tone setting, which leads into the heavy tidal wave of Mirror Deep. Right away you hear the synergy with the band and their new singer, who completely understands the task at hand. 

    Musically, the dissonance and the heavy to soft, quiet to loud is what this band is all about and is on full display here. The production of the record is perfect for what it is all about. Words are hard to pick to describe An Undying Love For A Burning World, but what I can say is the three track run of Blind, Seething And Scattered, and Untethered will be in the mix for some of the best parts of any record all year. 

    Blind, with the riffs and doomy sludgyness, Seething And Scattered, with the synth and noises to go along with the great riff and killer vocals, and Untethered, which sounds wonderfully like its name while having just enough melody underneath the surface to keep you right with it. Only a handful of you will be excited when I say the last two songs are a total of 28 minutes, but like what I assume it was making this record, we all must sacrifice for the art, and the payoff is so very worth it.

    Someone just throwing this record on with no context or background might not get it. They may say it’s too long, or too all over the place, or they don’t like growly vocals. But even for a casual fan like me, this record absolutely blew me away. I can only imagine how the Neurosis super-fans feel; having their band back in 2026, with Aaron Turner on vocals, and the result being An Undying Love For A Burning World. Breathtaking. 9/10

    Mclusky - I Sure Am Getting Sick Of This Bowling Alley (Ipecac Records)

    Mclusky is one of my favourite bands of all time. Given how they ended, I thought we would never hear another peep from them as that band. Not only did we get a peep, we got a pretty much perfect Mclusky album last year in the form of the aptly titled The World Is Still Here And So Are We. 

    After 22 years the band was back and sounded like they never left. Surely we won’t have anything else new? We certainly do, as the embarrassment of riches for Mclusky fans continues with the mini album I Sure Am Getting Sick Of This Bowling Alley, which is such a Mclusky album title. This blast of Mclusky goodness is six songs in thirteen minutes that continues the top quality new material that the 2025 record was chock full of.

    Of course the first line of the mini album opener, I Know Computer, is “Long hair, no skin?”. What else could it be? We get a driving bass line, trademark Mclusky guitar work, and Andrew Falkous being Andrew Falkous both vocally and lyrically. As A Dad could be on any of the other classic Mclusky records and should be a live staple going forward. In the piranha was another piranha. Indeed. Spock Culture has some fun background vocals as the bass drives the vocals and the rest of the track along perfectly, for another undoubtedly Mclusky track. 

    Hi, We’re On Strike is protest song, Mclusky style. It’s simple math. The noise rock category they get thrown in sometimes gets some evidence from this one. Fan Learning Difficulties seems like a weird love letter to all the shit rock lovers out there. I hear you Falco. The closer, That Was My Brain On Elves, is pretty damn deep for a track with that title and is just Falco and guitar telling us all the meaning of life.

    More new Mclusky, please. Keep it coming. Falco may be Getting Sick Of This Bowling Alley, but no Mclusky fan is sick of their new material in any shape or form. 9/10

    Exodus - Goliath (Napalm Records)

    Thrash bands from the 80s seem to want to prove they can still bring the heavy in 2026. This was true of Overkill a couple years ago, of Testament’s amazing new record last year (absolutely killer stuff), and now true of Goliath, the new record from thrash legends Exodus. While not trying to prove that they are as fast as everyone as they may have on their last record, the band certainly brings the heavy, and a lot of it, on the ten tracks for almost an hour of headbanging California thrash.

    A couple of thighs to get out of the way. First, this record should have been shorter than its 55 minute run time. There is nothing bad on Goliath, it is just a lot for one sitting. It is a tad slick production-wise, but you can get past that given the performances and the songs. Rob Dukes is back on vocals, and he sounds great. Of course Gary Holt is Gary Holt, and he has not slowed down a bit on this record. You can tell that is true right off the bat on the opener, 3111, which is a straight up ripper. 

    Hostis Humani Generis shows that the only true original member of Exodus, drummer Tom Hunting, is still a madman and can hang with anyone in the genre. The Changing Me sounds as close to Iron Maiden will ever sound and is a great old school thrasher. The slow burn title track is certainly an interesting choice, especially with Katie Jacoby adding violin to the mix. Other highlights for me include the circle pit madness of Beyond The Event Horizon, the mid tempo rocker Violence Works, and how the record closes with another ripper, The Dirtiest Of The Dozen.

    A fine effort for the 2026 version of Exodus, indeed. I got to see the band live last year, and the songs on Goliath will fit right in a live set. I think fans of the band will be happy with this record and it fits nicely with their later period work. 7/10

    Gong - Bright Spirit (Kscope)

    Gong has been around since the late 1960s. This is not the same band as the original lineup. A quick glance and their wiki and it looks like there have been at least 100 people in the band, give or take. I am in no way a historian on Gong, but I can say I enjoyed some of their early stuff. The new record, Bright Spirit, did not give me the same tingly feelings the older stuff did.

    Why? It is so cleanly produced it is like antiseptic. A song like The Wonderment was five minutes of going nowhere. The opener, Mantivule, made me anxious for some reason. Stars In Heaven was more on the psych pop side of things and is by far my favourite track on the record. Most of the record is a lot of proggy bits that really don’t connect with me.

    I am sure there are better people to review this record, but as a Gong novice, nothing on Bright Spirit is bringing me into the fold. There is nothing here for me to grab onto or have a return listen to. It’s not bad, just not for me. A bit too sterile and a bit too safe for my liking. 5/10

    Reviews: The Holeum, Goatsmoker, Imbrium, Astral Goat Dominion (Rick Eaglestone, Mark Young, Matt Bladen & Joe Gautieri)

    The Holeum – Ensis (Lifeforce Records) [Rick Eaglestone]

    The Holeum return with their third album Ensis via Lifeforce Records and if you haven’t been paying attention to what this band have been quietly building since their 2016 debut, now is absolutely the time to fix that. 

    This is a record that resists any single genre tag – part Death Doom, part Post-Metal, part Progressive and part something that genuinely doesn’t have a name yet – and it is all the more essential for it.

    Album opener The Fermi Paradox does exactly what the best openers do – it sets the terms and dares you to keep up. The conceptual framing is right there in the title: that vast, unresolved question of why, given the statistical near certainty of extra-terrestrial life, silence is all we’ve ever received back. 

    Pablo Egido’s vocals carry that weight convincingly, ranging from low, cavernous growls to something that sounds less like singing and more like a transmission sent into the void with no expectation of reply. 

    It’s patient, heavy, and completely uncompromising – a statement of intent that Cosmic Void Spheres then moves sharply on from, arriving with a density and emotional reach that makes the album’s full ambitions plain. 

    The guitar interplay between Luis Albadalejo and Julián Velasco surfaces here with some of the album’s most overtly melodic passages, and when clean vocals appear alongside them, this is the moment Ensis first shows you that devastation and beauty are, in The Holeum’s vocabulary, simply the same thing from different angles.

    Macrocosm + Microcosm is where this record starts to demonstrate what separates The Holeum from their contemporaries. The track moves from something intimate and fragile to something that feels continental in its weight, and Miguel A. Fernández’s drumming is the structural backbone holding it all together – this is a band thinking about architecture, not just impact. 

    Spontaneous Synchronization follows and is perhaps the most rewarding track on the album on repeat listens. There is nothing accidental about how its elements cohere, even as they appear to be working against one another, and Paco Porcel’s bass sits at the centre of it providing gravity when everything else threatens to pull apart. The mood never fully resolves and that feels entirely deliberate – it is an unsettling listen in the best possible sense.

    Hyperdimensional Physics leans hardest into the progressive side of The Holeum’s sound and is Ensis at its most compositionally ambitious – structural phases that would feel jarring from a lesser band feel completely earned here, each one growing logically out of what came before it. If you want to know what this band are genuinely capable of, go and put this one on loud. 

    Esoteric Futuristic Visions then builds around Egido’s drone work to deliver something atmospherically distinct from anything else on the record – forward-facing and speculative, a sound that looks beyond the edge of the known rather than retreating into familiar territory. 

    For a band, whose entire conceptual identity is rooted in the furthest reaches of the cosmos, this is where that vision feels most fully realised.

    Ensis closes with Geometric Congruence Vortex, and it is a closer that earns every second of its runtime – the clean tones of its opening minutes give the listener room to process the journey the album has taken them on, and the gradual return of heavier elements feels less like repetition and more like the album quietly acknowledging everything it has been.

    Overall Ensis is the record that the Holeum’s genre-defying blend of Doom, Post-Rock, Death, and Progressive metal is rendered with a cohesion and emotional devastation that their previous work was pointing towards but never quite reached. 7/10

    Goatsmoker - E.R.I.S (VinylTroll Records) [Mark Young]

    And to close out the week, how about some massive riffs? Here to satisfy that need is Copenhagen’s Goatsmoker who bring their latest sonic pummelling for your delight and delectation. 

    I should qualify that statement that this is primarily for those who dine out on big, fat guitars, vocals that have been dragged out and jumped on and song lengths that test your power of endurance. If you are still onboard after that description then you will find 5 songs of doom perfection.

    Cursed leads the 4 piece out to play and over 9 minutes gradually grind you to a pulp. This isn’t super polished, their own bio notes that imperfection is key for them, and I suppose that is the case when you hear discord that is brought down on later moments. It’s the sound of a band that writes music that excites them first and you second. 

    I’d love to wax lyrical about it but there’s little point. This is doom for those affection for it is captured within the lengthy, repeating mantras that their songs offer. It’s something when they make the shortest song feel like it has been stretched out of form, which is what they do on Waiting. 

    It has a background sound that is like air raid sirens wailing in the distance and its here that those imperfections come in. When it does change, its subtle, little increases in speed here and there without sounding out of place. What doesn’t change is the weight of these riffs, they are fuzzed out and in turn almost blissed out as they teeter on a knife edge without falling over. Gods Of Gunzilla is a prime example of this. Its drawn out, slow, measured to the point of collapse but is pulled back each time. 

    Doom fans will be all over this, that is without a doubt because it takes all of the key maxims for what you expect this genre to offer and puts them on a plate for you. The trouble is that for those liking a faster or shorter style then this is likely to turn you off. Saying that, if you made it through Cursed then you know what you have let yourself in for.

    Entropy Reigns In Silence is the penultimate song and is massive. Truly massive, possessed with more life than the preceding tracks, it’s a glacial tempo but one that continues moving forward at all times. I would suggest that the best way to experience this is with headphones, which enable you to immerse yourself within this song. It changes shape as it pushes forward to the end, reaching a crescendo that I didn’t think I’d hear with them. 

    It is a quality song, one that others should look to when writing a ‘good’ doom song because it is a belter. Dakhma is almost an anti-climax after that but isn’t without its charms. Taking some of its cues from Entropy, its happy to wield its own form sonic destruction and close this 5-song cracker out. Look for the almost angelic vocals running through it as it wraps up.

    I think in all honesty it’s has the capacity to held up as a statement release. Its doom in the style they want to play and its all the more honest for it. I couldn’t say that its essential for everyone, but then if we all like the same then it would be pretty boring. If you have a hankering for big guitars then check them out. 8/10

    Imbrium - Singularity (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

    If you like Evergrey then you'll like Imbrium. There I said it, this Leeds/London band take a lot of influence from the Swedish mastered with their dark melodic take on prog metal. 

    Featuring former members of Dreamcatcher, Memoreve and The Defiled, their EP, Singularity brings together dark melodic metal and progressive composition, striking a balance been atmosphere and weight.

    From beginning of Fade Away which moves between driving riffs and piano driven choruses, the chunky The Dark Is Home, through the guitar riff meets orchestrations of Reach Out and the stirring finale of Dark Singularity, the guitars all come with a down tuned heaviness but there's also and abundance of sympathetic keys and synths, with an emotional heft in the lyrics that lends itself to the introspective sound Imbrium create.

    The band say that they create music "that’s designed to hit hard—sonically and emotionally" and Singularity does do that in the same way that Tom S Englund and co can. They'll make you headbang one song, then cry the next and Imbrium do something similar with their songs about pain and loss, sung with passionate vocals and played with technical precision that never lets virtuosity hinder the melodies.

    An impressive EP from Imbrium, a must for any fans of Evergrey or bands that have an emotional side to their prog metal. 8/10

    Astral Goat Dominion - Only Lucifer And Fuzz (Self Released) [Joe Guatieri]

    Astral Goat Dominion are a two piece Doom Metal band from Italy consisting of guitarist and vocalist Sergio Khaosfuzz and bassist and programmer Marco Oniric. Today I’ll be covering their debut album Only Lucifer And Fuzz which was released on the 31st October, 2025.

    Getting into the record after the introductory interlude, we have track two with Lucifer (Part I). The guitar and bass both act as an ocean covering the song, immediately reminding me of Come My Fanatics era, Electric Wizard but not as raw. I say that as the guitars are trying to envelop you but they can’t, sure the loud volume is there but all of the other elements at play suck the life out of the track.

    The drum machine is far too studio ready sounding clean and shiny, it’s as if they used computer software and simply dragged and dropped the sample on top of everything else. Similarly with the organ sound which attempts to create a spooky atmosphere, is just completely out of place. It’s unfortunate as well that all of this happens alongside vocals that just drone on and on, it’s not hypnotic, it’s boring.

    The album title track doesn’t get much better. It has a clear Kyuss influence but it’s far too fast for its own good. Then to confuse myself even more by 1:04, there is a full-blown Disco section where the bass starts playing bouncy octaves, it completely threw me out of the experience.

    Getting deeper with track seven, Make The Sludge Doom Great Again, performs a sin. It’s trying to insight a Black Sabbath-esque sing-along, constantly trying to beg people to get out their lighters and wave along with the band and the venue stops the show for fear of a fire hazard. The vocal just falls flat on its face and there is nothing appealing about it, not even heaviness can save the day.

    This is a debut album and man does it feel like it… At last count one or two good to interesting riffs but they still copy Electric Wizard and that’s the thing with this record, I would rather be listening to anything else. After the album finished on a streaming service that I refuse to mention, a Mephistopheles song came on and I was transported into a world that I wanted to be in, it was so night and day.

    Overall, Astral Goat Dominion has sadly failed to impress me with Only Lucifer And Fuzz. The lack of a drummer and simple programming really hurts the record, resulting in something that sounds lifeless. Obviously the band are huge fans of Doom, Stoner and Sludge as a whole but they do things which we’ve all heard a thousand times before and they go nowhere. It’s like having a drunken conversation with a few friends and not acting on a thought as you know for a fact that it would be a bad idea, no matter how fun it seems. 2/10

    Reviews: Via Doloris, NO/MÁS, Diatribes, Parallel Minds (Rick Eaglestone, Joe Guatieri, Mark Young & Matt Bladen)

    Via Doloris – Guerre Et Paix (Season Of Mist) [Rick Eaglestone]

    A debut album that arrives fully formed is a rare thing, and Guerre Et Paix, the first full-length from Via Doloris, is exactly that. Released via Season of Mist, this is the project of French multi-instrumentalist Gildas Le Pape – one man, seven compositions, and a vision so coherent and so committed that it is difficult to believe you are not listening to a band ten years into their career. 

    The fact that session drums are handled by Frost of Satyricon and 1349 says something about the circles this record is moving in – but what it says even more loudly is that the songwriting underneath had to be strong enough to warrant that collaboration, and it absolutely is.

    Shifting between French, English, and Norwegian across its seven compositions, Guerre Et Paix treats language itself as an instrument – each tongue carrying its own emotional gravity, its own weight, its own texture against the music. 

    The artwork by Linnea Syversen lends the whole package a sacral, almost ritualistic quality that is entirely in keeping with what Le Pape has created sonically. This is an album that demands your full attention.

    Opener Communion sets the tone with an atmospheric deliberateness that has genuine weight to it – this is not a record that rushes anywhere, and from the first moments Le Pape makes that clear. 

    Frost’s drumming grounds everything in physical momentum without ever overwhelming the melodic intent, and as an opening statement it works precisely because it feels like an act of arrival rather than a warm-up. Un Franc Soleil, written in French, is the album at its most quietly devastating – a track built around absence as much as sound, and the most emotionally exposed moment on the record. If you’re not paying close attention, it might pass you by, and that would be a serious mistake.

    Omnipresents is where the folk and pagan elements that run through this record become most audible – there is a timeless, almost ancestral quality to the arrangement here, and the contrast between its more aggressive passages and the moments of reflective calm is sharper than anywhere else on the album. It is a demonstration of real compositional maturity. 

    For The Glory sits at the heart of Guerre Et Paix and is, for me, the album’s crowning moment – the track that most fully encapsulates what Via Doloris is and what this record is trying to do. It is the kind of track that keeps pulling you back, and the more time you spend with it the more you find in it. Hands down.

    Ultime Tourment is the album’s centrepiece in terms of sheer ambition – ten minutes that justify every second of their runtime and then some. It builds with a patience that most bands simply don’t have the nerve for, and by the time it reaches its peak it has earned that intensity completely. Go and put this on loud and give it the room it needs. 

    Visdommens Vei, I brings the Norwegian language into the record with full force, and the mid-track shift into something more luminous and folk-tinged is the kind of moment that makes you stop whatever you’re doing and just listen – it is a genuinely brave compositional choice, and it lands every time.

    Visdommens Vei II closes the album at just over two minutes, and that brevity is exactly right – it doesn’t tie anything off neatly, it simply lets the weight of everything that has come before it settles. Guerre Et Paix has earned that ending.

    Via Doloris have felt like black metal’s most carefully kept secret for long enough – with Guerre Et Paix that is emphatically no longer the case. Gildas Le Pape has delivered one of the most fully realised debut albums in the genre in recent memory, a record that is meticulous in its craft, uncompromising in its vision, and deeply, genuinely moving in its emotional honesty. 

    The collaboration with Frost is not a gimmick or a draw – it is a demonstration of just how strong the songwriting here is, because without that foundation no session drummer in the world, however legendary, could have made this record what it is. This is black metal that has something real to say, and it says it with extraordinary grace.

    “The album is about confronting the fractures within yourself – the war between what you are and what you want to become.” – Gildas Le Pape. 8/10

    NO/MÁS - No Peace (Redefining Darkness Records) [Joe Guatieri]

    NO/MÁS is a Grindcore band from Washington, D.C. They are a name known by quite a few weirdos out there like myself who follow extreme music and have a hatred of their sense of hearing. They’ve been around for a good while now, forming in 2017 and putting out several releases. 

    Surprisingly enough with their album that I’m covering here No Peace, it’s only the second “full-length” that they have released with their previous effort coming out in 2022. Again it’s a band that I’ve been aware of but never listened to as I go to more Grindcore gigs then what I do listen to, I was excited to get into it!

    The album is typically short at 22 minutes, providing a hammer on your head until you see stars in your peripheral vision. NO/MÁS travel across the world and take influence from some things that you might not expect. For one, there's a lot of Thrash Metal worship throughout the album, it’s like the band are screaming I love you Slayer! 

    Take track six, Leech and you’ve got an odd-pairing of two sections that miraculously connect. You’ve got an obvious wink and nod to Raining Blood as they take a fun spin on that famous riff and then juxtapose it with a solo which is straight out of the F-Zero playbook.

    No Peace sits much more within Metal than what it does with Hardcore as it’s more about pure destruction than it is speed. The blast beats are especially killer right the way through with such a clean and impactful drum sound, it doesn’t give you any time to breathe and proves what an incredible drummer Henry Everitt is. 

    The bass also gets a lot of time to shine, at its best it sounds like you’re getting a beating by a steel pipe, the instrument reverberates throughout the room and is always present.

    I want to point out track nine, Choke Point, it’s a whole fake out, at first it makes me think oh this is too familiar until it reaches its arms out and brings in great head banging grooves. It goes from a more Groove Metal passage and then in front of your very eyes, the song deconstructs itself and takes elements away, leaving Industrial Metal grit by the end, such a fabulous idea.

    Overall, with No Peace, NO/MÁS wears their influences proudly on their sleeve and has a great grasp over subverting your expectations, making for plenty of fun moments. It might be aggressive and off-the-wall but at least for a Grindcore record it feels oddly welcoming, taking you by the hand and saying look we don’t want you to throw up all of the time, only some of it. 

    The album is a laugh with some fantastic locked-in performances, it’s a night out that you remember fondly but still forget about at least half of what happened. 7/10

    Diatribes - Degenerate (Brutal Records) [Mark Young]

    A new player has entered the arena!! Diatribes, arriving from the fertile Brazilian underground with their debut release Degenerate. It basically nails its colour to the mast from the off, once you get past the introduction that Death’s Echo Chants sets in motion. 

    The Witch, is effectively what extreme metal sounds like where you ignore current trends or themes and stay as close as possible to what you got into this in the first place. It also sets the tone for what is to follow and makes no apologies about that. Its all drums that mash and riffs that explode outwardly. 

    In the respect of being hard, heavy, extreme all of the standard descriptions that can be applied are satisfied here and even more so on Hostility Within that takes a core arrangement and then hammers you with it. They know to keep these songs on the shorter side too, conscious of repeating the same message too many times. There's a definite Slayer/Exodus flavour on display too, which isn’t a bad thing really.

    There is obviously a ying to this yang and that is the fact that despite these tracks doing what they are supposed to do, they flash by without embedding. If you asked me right now for a song that stood out for me, I’d go with Masquerade, only for that Mandatory Suicide homage as its starts. 

    The songs are energetic and built for being played live, of this I’m absolutely certain because I don’t think that Diatribes have the word ‘slow’ in their vocab. Because of this need for constant aggression to be manifested in song, you need them to have variation In how they play out. Just using speed for speeds sake only goes so far.

    Still, this is a minor thing really when you consider that they have come here to be aggressive, to bring tightly focused extreme metal back into play. For those who would like to believe that Grunge, Nu-Metal or any other movement didn’t happen then this is for them. 

    Its as Old School as you could possibly get without directly copying those influences. I think we should applaud them because it is a strong debut that points to good things coming. 7/10

    Parallel Minds - Cairn (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

    Let's go once again in to the epic progressive metal sound of French band Parallel Minds shall we?

    Cairn is their fourth studio full length and again brings together thrash, death, power and prog metal which has seen them compared to Blind Guardian, Evergrey and Symphony X and while the latter is very much where Parallel Minds ply their trade, the two former appear throughout with Orishas and Bhopal taking Blind Guardian into some African music sounds as Togo musicians Arka’n Asrafokor and Silveira Lakoélé Atalawoè add their skillset.

    It's an album of cinematic orchestrations, neo-classical guitar solos, blistering double kicks and vocals that can hit top end high notes, gutsy passionate mids and gravel throated growls. The influence of Devin Townsend too comes in just how eclectic it is musically, this variation of this album comes from the heart of this album being the symbol of the cairn, stone piles left by travellers along their path.

    Cairn     is a 61 minute concept album, so it's not a quick listen, but if you give it time you'll be rewarded but some brilliant performances, great songwriting and a full cast of guest artist that drive the concept this album tries to convey. There's Native American chants that frame Trail Of Tears before it blows up into Iron Maiden style twin harmonies.

    More guests from the French scene join the album as Asylum Pyre, Muhurta, and Stone Horns, to really increase the grandeur of this fourth record as we travel across the world though the medium of intense modern prog metal. Grab your passport and make sure your seats are in the full and upright positions as this is journey through the existence of man and the experiences they leave behind.

    A superb record but one that you need to make time for Cairn is a pillar of the prog metal scene. 8/10


    Reviews: Angus McSix, Temple Of Void, The Gems, Night Thieves (Matt Bladen)

    Angus McSix - Angus McSix And The All-Seeing Astral Eye (Napalm Records)

    The most recent quest for Prince Angus McSix (Thomas Winkler) began after the Hammer Of Glory was destroyed and he took The Sword Of Power and embarked on a battle against Archdemon Seebulon (Sebastian “Seeb” Levermann of Orden Organ), however he was imprisoned in an ice with no memory of who he was before.

    So the next chapter of the story now begins with Angus' brother, Adam McSix (Sam Nyman of Manimal) taking the lead character role, Angus still appears on the opening track, 6666, however from here this is the journey of Adam to save his brother alongside new party member The Dwarf (Jasmin Pabst) who joins on guitar alongside Amazon Thalestris (Thalia Belazecca of Primal Fear), Ork Zero (Gerit Lamm) on drums.

    Seeb also plays guitars and produces the record to make sure this conceptual fantasy is as over the top as it can be. Telling a whole new story, the music doesn't change too much, packing in a lot of grandiose power metal with some thumping electronics (Starlight Stronghold) plenty of tasty guitar/keys playing and massive choruses sung brilliantly by Nyman who slots into the frontman role perfectly with his power and range.

    To make this second chapter even more epic they even add a few guests to the record as Rhapsody Of Fire join for Adam McSix, Turmion Kätilöt bring industrial thunder to Techno Men crossing Manowar with Kraftwerk, Dig Down has some AOR choruses aided by acapella act Van Canto while there's a party atmosphere on The Power Of Metal where Freedom Call join the fun.

    And that's the kicker of this whole thing, Angus McSix And The All-Seeing Astral Eye is just fun, tongue-in-cheek humour, epic compositions and technically gifted performances, the adventure continues and you should join asap. 8/10

    Temple Of Void - The Crawl (Relapse Records)

    Five albums in and Detroit band Temple Of Void feel like experimenting, not in a way that totally runs away from their uncompromising death-doom assault but by adding elements to make it more experimental and musically mature. It's something they've been doing throughout their existence slowly adding softness to their hardened extremity with synths and melodic passages that are most prominent on album five.

    The Crawl is a way for these veterans of the Michigan scene to explore some of their non metal influences as they throw in a lot of grunge and post-punk dull their sledgehammer into a more precise tool. Temple Of Void are guitarist Alex Awn, drummer Jason Pearce, vocalist/guitarist Mike Erdody, and bassist Justin Malek and they tracked The Crawl was tracked in a single week in January, at Kurt Ballou’s GodCity Studio (High On Fire) in Salem, MA. Ballou and engineer Zach Weeks (Deafheaven).

    They give the record a spontaneity and rawness, feeling like you're right their with them as they're playing as Brad Boatright's master locks in this rougher hue but allows the non metal moments to breathe too. With lyrics continuing on the theme of fear and psychology from their last album, Temple Of Void can soundtrack epic D&D campaigns with The Crawl, packed with thrills and spills, it's death-doom brutality they have mastered with invitations from their other musical infatuations. 8/10

    The Gems - Year Of The Snake (Napalm Records)

    Classic rock trio The Gems take a further step into modernity on their second album Year Of The Snake, moving outside of the AC/DC-like riffs of their debut with second full length Year Of The Snake. Blasting out of your speakers with the title track, it's another mammoth record of 14 songs and while there are some rare jewels here, but like it's predecessor there's still too much of it.

    Granted the 14 tracks don't ease off the accelerator as Mona Lindgren's guitar/bass riffs peel off against the drumming of Emlee Johansson creating some loud, boisterous noise for singer Guernica Mancini's huge vocals to croon over, she's joined by Tommy Johansson of Majestica for an 80's sounding track, while there's still a lot of blues, a bit of glam stomping and a ballad or two that are all written for hard rock radio and live stages.

    Year Of The Snake is solid second record from The Gems, shaking up their songwriting with a bit more variety and a swagger towards the mainstream, across these 14 songs. 7/10

    Night Thieves - Metaxis (Self Released)

    London band Night Thieves have been quite rapidly rising through the ranks of the UK scene and this has all been leading to the release of their hotly anticipated debut album Metaxis. It, like their 2024 EP is produced by Romesh Dodangoda, who gives it the huge modern sound he is so renowned for.

    So what is Metaxis like? Well I'm glad you asked as Night Thieves managed to capture the current musical Zeitgeist with this debut record, crafting a full length that has musical inspiration from bands such as Bring Me The Horizon, Architects and Spirtbox.

    There's some 90's alt rock tones on Running (Out Of Time), the atmospheric suite of In Between Pt 1/Pt2, the chorus driven crunch of Mycelia or the introspective balladry of See You On The Other Side which features Jessie Powell of Dream State.

    Night Thieves combine heavy djenty grooves from Rick Hunter-Burns (bass) and percussive power from Ryan Delgyn (drums) with pulsating synths and cavernous riffs from Paul Andrew (guitar) and some sneering, gritty vocals for Jess Moyle, a potent cocktail that have been mixed properly to create this debut.

    The result is a hooky, style of modern musical alchemy, Night Thieves are a stage honed, confident four-piece with strong creative senses, all of which is on display on Metaxis. 8/10